Parent Profile: Bobby Hadpraja
Sophie Razmovski, Year 8
Bobby Hadipraja is the father of Gabby Hadipraja in Year 7 and a fundamental character in the Beacon Academy community. He currently works in
the Oil Patch selling equipment to lift oil from out of the ground. Mr Hadipraja says that growing up was very exciting for him since he never missed
an opportunity to have fun. His days were spent playing, playing, and playing. During the day he was always active, and during nighttime, he was
really running out of energy and finding it hard to stay awake for study or homework. As a result, he always landed on top 10, but from the bottom.
Mr. Hadipraja almost failed Grade 3, but was lucky enough to be able to sit in Grade 4 under very close observation. Playing still seemed more fun
than studying.
Just as he graduated from high school, his father died; he says that this was real a wakeup call for him. He suddenly realised the need to focus on
planning for his future. All of a sudden things turned 360 degrees. Very quickly, he started to love studying and was able to finally graduate as one of
the top 10 students.
Mr Hadipraja believes that Beacon academy offers so many diverse ranges of studying and learning, unlike his time, when the format of studying
and learning was treacherous because there was too much memorising. However, his least favourite subjects were History and Geography, as he
found these deathly boring. But at Beacon, the process for studying subjects is a lot more interactive, according to Mr Hadipraja. He says that rather
than memorising, students are encouraged to think and analyse. He believes that if he were in Beacon academy, then he would love it as the
learning style is a lot more exciting.
Mr Hadipraja lives with his eyes always aimed at fun and he always tries to make the best out of every dreary situation. Fun is the main ingredient in
everything he does and he tries to have fun everywhere: fun during work, fun whilst facing challenges, fun when raising children. For him, it’s all
about fun.
The biggest challenge for him is how to prevent himself from getting intoxicated with fun. He says that even though fun is good, too much of it is
really bad, and it may turn into addiction. Mr Hadipraja likes to meditate, twice a day.
FIVE! With Mr Mark Lai
Bhavish Adwani, Year 8
Bhavish: Mr Mark, can you define Music?
Mr Mark Lai: Music is an art form where sounds and silences are organised in a way that expresses the different elements of melody and
harmony.
What can you say about the upcoming school productions? This year, the school productions are each different in their own way. Jungle Book
Kids is based on the famous Disney movie, The Jungle Book. The show combines fun and exciting songs in a jazzy style, which drives the story,
and was written perfectly for the age group. The Year 3 – Year 5 production, Porridge, is a funny musical that is predominantly acted, with a few
songs throughout. It tells the story of a crime wave that hits Happy Valley and a series of mysteries to be solved. The characters in this story are
based on a few different fairy tales such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The Middle School production of Seussical Jr. is a musical that is
based on the story from Horton Hears A Who, written by Dr. Seuss. Many of the characters in the show are taken from various books created by
Dr. Seuss. The entire story is told through song and short poetic rhymes. The musical tells the story of an elephant named Horton who came
across a small speck of dust filled with tiny creatures called the Whos living in a town called Whoville. Horton struggles to prove that this small
speck of dust has people living on it and tries his best to protect and convince the Citizens of the Jungle of Nool that a “person’s a person no
matter how small”.
What is the importance of musical productions in school? Musicals, and other performance arts, provide the chance for students to excel outside
of regular academia. Yes, it’s important to get good grades, but the opportunity to be part of an organisation that puts on a great display of talent
and cooperation is a rare treat not found in every school. Participating in a school musical production could also showcase and promote music
and drama outside of school. Performi